Who really won the First World War?

[Tony Smith]

There is a story concerning the Australian Prime Minister Billy Hughes, a feisty Labor politician and ex union leader. At a post war conference with the allied leaders US president Woodrow Wilson was demanding a larger slice of reparations for America's part in the war, and the demands were coming thick and fast. Billy Hughes is reputed to have said (Quote): "Just sit yourself down, you f***ing windbag, we'll tell you what you're going to get". Woodrow was taken aback and said "Settle down man, what gives you the right to talk to the US President like that?" Billy "The Little Digger" Hughes replied "The blood of 60,000 aussies and the fact that Australia won the war!". The British and French delegates were keen to see America to receive as little as possible, but were not so sure about seeing Australia doing all the fighting for it and especially so right there in the conference room. Future conferences were handled by the diplomats and beureaucrats and the explosive mix of politicians kept out of the delicate negotiations. No doubt they thought Billy was ready to launch an attack on America, however many of the US claims were eventually disallowed.